In an April 13 memo on “don’t ask, don’t tell” repeal training, Rear Adm. Mark L. Tidd, Chief of Navy Chaplains, clarified that base facilities are “sexual orientation neutral,” and that chaplains may perform marriages for gay couples “if it is conducted in accordance with the laws of a state which permits same-sex marriage[.]” Chaplains could elect to officiate should a ceremony be “consistent with the tenets of his or her religious organization.”

But Tidd reversed course late Tuesday, writing that his guidance is suspended pending “additional legal and policy review and inter-Departmental coordination.”

Tidd’s about-face comes after outcry in recent days from a group of Republican lawmakers who want to bar same-sex weddings at base facilities, as well as religious conservative groups that have long railed against any change in the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy.

Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council, wrote in a Tuesday blog post that Tidd’s guidance was an affront to the Defense of Marriage Act, which prohibits federal recognition of gay marriages.

“Now that the ban on homosexuals in the military is overturned, the White House is trying to enlist the troops in its war on DOMA. And if the administration won’t uphold the law, then it shouldn’t surprise anyone that the President would order the military to ignore it,” Perkins wrote.

Because this is exactly where our energy should be going. I don’t know if this shows how effective Republicans are in forcing minuscule symbolic pieces of legislation in what they consider the “culture wars,” or how ineffective they are in prioritizing what real issues are. In the face of all the things the military should currently be focusing on, this seems pretty trivial since it deals with a future, potential, hypothetical, if one day someone wants to get marred on a military base and happens to be gay they shouldn’t be able to. Ideally, this type of legislation will continue to become more and more irrelevant as DOMA is abandoned.

Former NFLer Wade Davis and writer Darnell L. Moore want to change the narrative. More specifically, they want to change the narrative around black people and homophobia. The current narrative describes homophobia among black people as something unique, ubiquitous, and more pervasive than among other racial groups. And whether attributed to religion or other factors, it’s a narrative that has gained currency in our national debates, coming very close to blaming the entire problem of homophobia on black people who hate “the gays.”

Davis and Moore see things differently. They have witnessed first-hand loving affirmation of their identities by black family members and friends, and now they want the rest of us to witness it as ...

Former NFLer Wade Davis and writer Darnell L. Moore want to change the narrative. More specifically, they want to change the narrative around black people and homophobia. The current narrative describes homophobia ...

University of Chicago students took to Twitter last night, calling out widespread misogyny, Title IX violations, queerphobia, transphobia, racism (including these Halloween costumes), ableism, lack of mental health services, lack of support for low-income students — and institutional tolerance of it all.

The #LiabilityoftheMind hashtag, started by UChicago student Olivia Ortiz, quickly trended on Twitter in Chicago. (“Liability of the mind” plays on a common UChicago slogan, “Life of the mind.”) Says Ortiz, “As a student of color and sexual assault survivor on campus, I’ve constantly felt like a liability in the eyes of my university. Instead of condemning and disciplining the real liabilities (students and administrators who violate the law and further marginalize minorities on campus) the ...

University of Chicago students took to Twitter last night, calling out widespread misogyny, Title IX violations, queerphobia, transphobia, racism (including these Halloween costumes), ableism, lack of mental health services, lack of support for low-income students — ...